Wildwood Man Gets New Trial In Slaying

TAVARES — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the first-degree murder conviction of a Wildwood man who was sentenced to death for raping a 2-year- old girl and burying her alive in 1981.

The court granted a new trial for Ernest Lee Roman, 55, because the state failed to disclose sworn statements a key witness had given to police in which the witness said Roman was ''in a drunken stupor'' the night Tasha Marie Smith was murdered. The witness later testified in court that Roman was sober.

The court said the statements would have enabled Roman's attorney to impeach the credibility of the witness during the trial and that failure to disclose the statements might have contributed to Roman's conviction.

''If it was an unintentional oversight, that's one thing,'' said Larry Spalding, a Tallahassee state attorney who represents death row inmates in appeals. His office discovered the police statements. ''Unfortunately, it was a major screw-up.''

The court's ruling angered Tasha's family.

Family members had watched much of the March 1983 trial, during which a medical examiner said Tasha was alive and conscious when she was buried, and that dirt under her fingernails indicated she was trying to claw her way out. ''I don't care if he was drunk or not -- he did it,'' said Betty Watkins, 52, of Wildwood, the girl's grandmother.

''I don't understand all the reprieves and all of the delays,'' she said, weeping. ''It's not just Roman. It's all of them. They get one reprieve after another, whether it's a new trial or whatever.

''My granddaughter was never given a second chance. She was 2 years old. And she was never allowed to grow up.''

Fifth Circuit State Attorney S. Ray Gill said Thursday that once the court's decision is final, he intends to retry Roman on a charge of first- degree murder. Gill said his office will push for the death penalty.

Roman came close to execution in March.

In January, Gov. Bob Martinez signed a death warrant for Roman. Then, on April 1, the Florida Supreme Court granted an indefinite stay of execution, issuing no explanation with the order.

The court Thursday vacated Roman's conviction and death sentence because the panel found that the state had failed to disclose two statements that witness Arthur Reese, who was Roman's roommate in a mobile home, had given to police that contradicted Reese's testimony in court.